World history? No. That's the part our history books focus on.
White guilt and white supremacy are, consequently, 2 sides of the same coin here.
If our textbooks focus on western empires out of superiority, you miss out on the rich history of other nations that did the same.
If our textbooks focus on western empires out of guilt, you miss out on the dark history of other nations that did the same.
To avoid either of these mistakes, one must find balance between ethnocentrism and cultural relativity.
Before Europe rose to power, it was various middle eastern and mesopotamian Empires that carved up the landscape. Egypt, the Ancient Hebrews, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians. Even during the time of Europe's various crusades and expansions, you had Muslim and Mongolian Empires.
This meme could be used to criticized western civ's history. Alright. Cool.
But the implication that history is just Europe conquering other countries is, ironically, euro centric. By singling European Powers out for their colonialism, you negate the vast histories of other countries with their own history. Warts and all.
Because if your history stops going back when western civilization starts expanding, you're forgetting about a whole world of genocidal slaver empires in the age of antiquity-or even the more recent medieval era.
It's ironically eurocentric disguised as white guilt.
Perhaps we need to see spectrums as circular instead of linear, concerning euro centrism vs cultural relativism.
